Articles by Ronald Dod
How to Use Customer Reviews on your Ecommerce Site
Shoppers today count on reviews to trust new brands and their products. Ecommerce customer reviews offer extra safety for shoppers. They help avoid scams and poor-quality products. Fortunately, making an Ecommerce site quickly is easily accomplished. This post discusses how to create and use Ecommerce customer reviews on your site. It shows ways to collect, manage, and make the most of these reviews. Implementing these strategies builds trust and improves your business.
Improving Your Social Media Strategy
Social media is the main connection of the 21st Century, and businesses are tapping into it’s powerful potential. Social media can (and should) be used for more than status updates and sharing your meatloaf dinner with family and friends. When utilized correctly, social media can help you connect with your customers, build your business, and link with potential customers as well. However, social media seems deceivingly easy. It can’t be difficult to post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, right?
6 Top Holiday Season Content Ideas
Looking for holiday season content ideas? To prepare for the holiday season, you supplement your inventory with limited edition products and create tailored newsletters and campaigns. But what about content marketing? The holidays are the ideal time to create engaging articles surrounding the season. Shoppers are eager to consume this type of content and are expecting to see it prominently featured on retailers’ websites.
These 15 Tips Will Help Your Email Conversion Rate Original
When it comes to marketing tactics and lead nurturing, we all know that email is one of the most powerful tools you can use. But if your inbox is anything like ours, it’s overflowing with emails that you hardly even open if it isn’t urgent. Odds are, your target audience is the same way when it comes to emails. So, what’s the secret to increasing not only your open rate but your conversion rate as well?
Improving Your Social Media Strategy
Social media is the main connection of the 21st Century, and businesses are tapping into it’s powerful potential. Social media can (and should) be used for more than status updates and sharing your meatloaf dinner with family and friends. When utilized correctly, social media can help you connect with your customers, build your business, and link with potential customers as well. However, social media seems deceivingly easy. It can’t be difficult to post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, right?
6 Top Holiday Season Content Ideas Original
Looking for holiday season content ideas? To prepare for the holiday season, you supplement your inventory with limited edition products and create tailored newsletters and campaigns. But what about content marketing? The holidays are the ideal time to create engaging articles surrounding the season. Shoppers are eager to consume this type of content and are expecting to see it prominently featured on retailers’ websites.
How to Use Customer Reviews on your Ecommerce Site
In a world where virtually anyone can create an Ecommerce site overnight, shoppers rely on reviews to confirm that they can trust a new brand and its products. Reviews provide an added level of security for consumers to shop without fear of being scammed or purchasing poor quality products. Ecommerce Customer Reviews That doesn’t mean reviews are only for Ecommerce newbies. For established brands, reviews are still useful and have a similar impact.
5 Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming the Business Landscape
Artificial intelligence (AI) is here, it’s powerful and it’s growing. Its potential to transform business from the inside out, from product design, sales, supply chain and customer service, is undeniable. While the transformation is taking longer than some predicted, the acceleration we’ve seen in recent years shows no signs of slowing down.
How Headless PWAs Are Changing E-Commerce
Things in the e-commerce industry are changing rapidly. As it stands, Amazon.com and Walmart are busy duking it out for digital retail supremacy. At the same time, more merchants are getting in on the game than ever before, with e-commerce on pace to account for nearly a quarter of all retail sales by 2023. At the same time, mobile sales are skyrocketing as consumers become more comfortable shopping on small-screen devices. However, sales remain split between the mobile web and applications.
B2B PPC Tactics: Six Ways to Bring in Higher-Quality Leads
B2B and B2C companies have come to more closely resemble one another in the past several years. As a result of that mirroring process, the marketing strategies they use have also grown closer together. B2B brands are more often relying on traditionally B2C tactics, such as social media engagement and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
Card Factory reports online sales rising fast as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns - and shops recovering faster than first expected
Image: Screenshot of cardfactory.co.uk Card Factory says online sales rose sharply as a result of Covid-19 lockdown and that its shops are now recovering faster than expected. Long-term it now aims to make 20% of its sales from a mix of online and multichannel sales and sales via third-party retailers.
Government considers online shopping tax in business rates review
A tax on online shopping is one option being considered by the government as it reviews the business rates system. The UK Treasury is looking for alternatives to the existing business rates scheme, which focuses on retailers with stores rather than those that trade online only. It has issued a call for evidence as part of the new review of the business rates system.
Kingfisher sees ecommerce surge 200% across May and June as click and collect comes into its own
Kingfisher's B&Q reopening drove ecommerce to new heights in H1 (Image: B&Q) DIY homewares group Kingfisher – owner of B&Q and Screwfix in the UK along with a range of similar stores in France – has seen ecommerce surge in May and June as click and collect and delivery come into their own with stores reopening. With stores closed from mid-March the retailer has seen ecommerce more than fill the gap.
EDITORIAL Hotel Chocolat, Naked Wines, Unilever, Gear4music and French Connection on how lockdown changed the way their shoppers buy
Image courtesy of Hotel Chocolat In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter we’re reporting as the latest official figures show how shoppers’ buying habits changed during lockdown. The ONS Retail Sales report for June shows how shoppers bought more online in June across all categories, while buying less in-store. The finding that customer habits have changed at least short-term is reflected in updates from retailers including Hotel Chocolat, French Connection, Unilever, Naked Wines and Gear4music.
Hotel Chocolat expects 3% sales rise after year of two very different halves
Image courtesy of Hotel Chocolat Hotel Chocolat today said it expected full-year sales to be 3% ahead of last time, after a year of two very different halves. Sales were up by 14% in the first half of the year – but fell by 14% in the second half as its shops closed during the coronavirus lockdown, although digital sales were up by more than 200%. The retailer now plans to create 200 new jobs this year as it expands its distribution and manufacturing capacity.
Naked Wines’ sales up by 77% - showing it's 'ideally positioned' for the shift online
Naked Wines today reported sales up by more than three-quarters and said it was “ideally positioned” for the ongoing shift as customers continue to buy more wine online and less in shops. Sales in June alone were up by 67%, compared to the same time last year, with the result that sales for the first quarter of Naked Wines financial year were 77% ahead of the same time last year.
Latest ONS figures show how UK shoppers changed the way they buy during lockdown
Increased online spending and falling in-store sales in June suggest that the way shoppers buy has changed dramatically during the coronavirus lockdowns – although official figures suggest the amount they spend has now returned to pre-Covid levels. Last month, 31.8% of retail sales took pace online, according to the ONS Retail Sales report for June.
French Connection points to slow recovery in store sales while online sales are 24% ahead
Image: Screenshot of Frenchconnection.com French Connection says sales in its stores have been improving slowly since it was allowed to reopen them on June 15 following lockdown. It says that visitor numbers have been down, but those who visit its shops have been more likely to spend than a year earlier.
GUEST COMMENT How to pivot your Amazon strategy: now and after Covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic has altered the face of the ecommerce industry and shopper behaviour. However, despite the new challenges that retailers face, the current situation provides sellers with massive growth opportunities. This new landscape is particularly true for those who sell through Amazon. From board games to beauty products, bidets, baby wipes and beyond, consumers rely on Amazon’s services more than ever.
How do the best brands get it right? 2020 RXBX Brand Index deep-dive discussion with FatFace and Tealium
2020 will be remembered as a phase change, during which the biggest and best brands made a resolute leap from “wholesale + branding + some flagships” to wholly, capably and committedly multichannel. In the 2020 RXBX Brand Index we measure, analyse and rank the 500 best-performing brands selling direct to consumers in Europe. The index has doubled to 500 (from 2019’s ranking of 250) to reflect the growth and dynamism in this channel.
Gear4music expects significant profit rise after 'exceptionally strong' first quarter
Screenshot: Gear4music.com Gear4music today hailed an “exceptionally strong” first quarter of its financial year during the coronavirus lockdown, with UK sales up by 80% and total sales up by 68%. It now expects that full-year profits will be well ahead of last year. The online musical instrument and equipment retailer, ranked Top250 in RXUK Top500 research, has reported sales of £37.3m in the three months to June 30 2020. That’s up by 68% compared to the same time last year.
EDITORIAL How Kingfisher, Missguided and Armani are building resilience
Giorgio Armani: part of the retail rethink (Image: Armani/Viviane Sassen) A recent assessment by the KPMG/Ipsos Retail Think Tank (RTT), which produces a Retail Health Index (RHI) – a quantitative and qualitative assessment of demand, margin and cost – saw drop of 10 points, bringing the index to a record low of just 61 – down nearly 40% if compared to its initial basing (RHI score of 100) in 2006. On that metric, retail is at a very low ebb.
Dip in weekend visitors to English high streets more likely to be down to the weather than face masks: Springboard
The number of people visiting shops in the UK continued to rise last week, although visitor numbers dipped slightly over the weekend. It became mandatory to wear a facemask to protect against the spread of Covid-19 when visiting shops in England on Friday, but Springboard suggests the dip in visitor numbers may be because of heavy rain rather than avoiding having to mask up.
How to Create High-Converting Descriptions for Your Product Pages
You've invested time and money to implement creative and cost-effective ways to bring relevant traffic to your site. You've even gone through a process to collect product reviews from customers. So, what's still missing? Thoughtful, robust product descriptions that convert. And what makes for a winning product description? A well-written product description describes the important features and benefits of the products (or services) you sell through your site.
How to Use Your Competitor’s Backlink Profile to Your Advantage
Increasing traffic as a means to generate more sales is a primary goal for most eCommerce retailers. As a result, considerable amounts of time, energy, and resources are invested in elevating search engine rankings. This pursuit is understandable, considering that Google search statistics show the engine processing over 3.5 billion queries daily. By employing an effective SEO strategy, sellers can attract a considerable number of those users and earn a significant amount of sales.
4 Ways to Successfully Migrate Your E-Commerce Store
With Black Friday online sales hitting an all-time high in 2019, many e-commerce retailers are prospering. As their brands continue to grow, website migrations often become a necessity to offer better online experiences to larger customer bases. That said, there are a variety of common e-commerce website migration issues that retailers must look out for, particularly as it relates to SEO.
Here's how to modify your e-commerce campaign for B2B and B2C
While search engine optimization is still one of the most important disciplines to master, pay-per-click advertising is equally essential as a skill. No matter if a brand is looking to attract B2B or B2C prospects, PPC is one of the most effective means of achieving this goal. That said, there is a vast chasm that separates the tactics employed for optimizing each type of campaign.
7 Mobile Marketing Tips for Small Business
Did you know that over half of adults in the United States now utilize a smart phone to surf the Web? This information makes it even more urgent that you bring your business onto the mobile scene if you have not already. Even if you are a brick and mortar store, it is imperative that you, at the minimum, make your website mobile friendly.
How to Boost Your Amazon Sales
As competitive as the marketplace has become since the platform opened up to third-party sellers over two decades ago, retailers around the world can still build thriving businesses through Amazon. That said, many merchants who utilize the online retail goliath consider profit to be their most important metric, and it is understandable why they might hold that thought. After all, according to a 2018 Feedvisor report, one-fifth of professional Amazon retailers sell more than $1 million annually.
How to Create a 2020 Digital Marketing Budget
As 2019 nears its end, business owners are ramping up their holiday marketing efforts and preparing for the sales tsunami that is sure to ensue. However, in all the hectic holiday hustle and bustle, retailers must also take time to establish their digital marketing budget for 2020. During the last quarter of the year, marketing teams generate new strategies and tactics for reaching consumers. These blueprints act as a roadmap for engendering a seller's vision for what is to be achieved.
7 Reasons eCommerce Sites Fall Short
The brutal reality of eCommerce is that, without adequate attention to specific key metrics and adjusting appropriately, the vast majority of eCommerce sites will fail. There are some eCommerce site failures that are largely due to situations outside of a merchant’s control (i.e., product demand, etc.). However, the ability to calibrate and roll with the punches is what draws the line in the sand between failing and not.
What eCommerce Brands Can Steal from Amazon's Model |
Amazon’s dominance in the eCommerce sphere has become the stuff of legend. They’re both the most consistent innovator and the established industry leader, and often it can feel as if everyone else is just playing catch-up to them. But to get to the heights they’ve achieved today, Amazon had to make a series of savvy business moves.
Apply These 8 Tips to Improve Your Amazon Marketing Ads
Listing on Amazon gives you the opportunity to reach more customers, But it gets hard to capture shoppers’ attention in the crowded marketplace. Many merchants feel using Amazon Marketing Service (AMS) remains important. And promoting products with Amazon marketing ads helps drive high-quality traffic. It also increases conversion. Here are some advantages of using pay-per-click Amazon ads: These ads are highly visible on product search results pages.
An SEO’s Guide to Refreshing Old Content
Most SEO marketers know the importance of publishing and optimising new content frequently. But did you know that the content you already have can be just as much of an asset as the newer pages? There are relatively simple steps you can take to refresh your old content, boost its rankings and make it pop just as much as your new content does. These steps are especially important if your old content doesn’t follow current SEO best practices.
Learn how to get better returns from Microsoft Ads
Note: On April 29, Microsoft announced the rebranding of Bing Ads to Microsoft Ads. Microsoft Ads have always played second fiddle to Google AdWords, and the reason is seemingly obvious. Clocking in at 3.5 billion searches per day, the vast majority of searches go through Google and its related platforms. Because of this, Microsoft Ads are incredibly underutilized by marketers.
Learn how to get better returns from Microsoft Ads
Note: On April 29, Microsoft announced the rebranding of Bing Ads to Microsoft Ads. Microsoft Ads have always played second fiddle to Google AdWords, and the reason is seemingly obvious. Clocking in at 3.5 billion searches per day, the vast majority of searches go through Google and its related platforms. Because of this, Microsoft Ads are incredibly underutilized by marketers.
10 Ways CRM and ERP Can Streamline Your eCommerce Operations
Operating a successful eCommerce business is more than just getting more customers and selling more products. As your company grows, the various operational tasks associated with running the company will increase exponentially. Using individual software applications to handle these functions (e.g., accounting, inventory management, order entry) in a piecemeal manner often creates friction and inefficiency.
Here's how to incorporate Shoppable Instagram Posts into your e-commerce strategy
Instagram has the power to be a big sales driver for brands both large and small, and its increasingly flexible advertising features are pushing that capacity higher and higher. The social media giant has made its advertising platform more powerful and more accessible than ever before, and advertisers are now reaping the benefits. What are the new features that have the e-commerce world chattering?
The Hidden Mystery Behind Using AI to Create Awesome Customer Experience - Small Business Trends
Artificial intelligence (AI) changes the way we go about our everyday lives. Consider Apple’s line of mobile devices with Siri. And think about Amazon’s smart home products featuring Alexa. They make us comfortable interacting with a virtual assistant. These forms of AI make our lives easier and help us perform hands-free tasks. But the use of AI seeps into other industries like eCommerce too. Consider integrating AI into your own business model. Improve your company’s results.
Leverage Social Selling with These Top Tools and Platforms
Social media now plays a vital role in the eCommerce industry, attracting potential customers to your storefront and even offering a new avenue for direct sales. BigCommerce reports that shops utilizing social media have 32 percent more conversions. To maximize your company’s potential, you should give attention to both customer retention and acquisition. But how do you go about finding and attracting new potential shoppers?
3 powerful ways to maximize data to grow your e-commerce business
Those on the outside think the e-commerce game is an easy way to make some quick cash. But, operating an e-commerce company is no effortless endeavor and building a profitable brand is even more challenging. Transforming new visitors into loyal customers can sometimes seem to be a difficult feat, and a costly one at that. Part of the difficulties in these undertakings is learning which offers, messaging, tactics and techniques yield the most fruitful results across a business’s funnels.
The Pros and Cons of Amazon’s Choice Rating
Both Amazon sellers and shoppers are becoming increasingly familiar with the “Amazon’s Choice” badge that has been popping up all over the platform, dichotomizing specific products from others within a category. As an increasing number of products begin to flaunt the logo, the badge has become more visible and influential over purchasing decisions. However, what does “Amazon’s Choice” mean exactly? How does Amazon select the products that tout the insignia?
How Amazon Is Altering the Grocery Industry Across the Country
By Ronald Dod Amazon’s U.S. marketplace features over 564 million products for consumers to browse and buy. As a result, the company’s ever-growing catalog and presence has forever changed how consumers shop. By shipping products directly to buyers’ doorsteps, its often rock-bottom prices and extreme levels of convenience and ease, Amazon has become one of the most dominant forces in retail today. Now Amazon seeks to change the way consumers purchase groceries, too.
Instagram Stories: Four Story Strategies for Increasing Revenue
Instagram is one of the most important channels for online business owners. Earlier this year, it was announced that the platform cracked the 1 billion monthly active users mark, officially making it one of the most widely-used social networks on the planet. What’s more remarkable is that more than 500 million of these users visit the site at least once per day. Part of what has fueled Instagram’s meteoric rise over the past couple of years is the platform’s Stories feature.
How Amazon’s Alexa Will Impact the Marketing Landscape
In 2017, Amazon generated nearly $178 billion in revenue of which $118 billion came just from product sales. Out of the 564 million items featured on Amazon’s U.S. marketplace, the Amazon Echo Dot was the top-selling product this holiday season. In fact, it is the best-selling smart speaker on the market. AI-enabled smart speakers are rapidly permeating the homes of millions. As it stands, one in five Americans – 47 million people– have access to a smart speaker.
How to Reduce Your Facebook Ad Spend With Smart Targeting
Want to lower your Facebook ad costs? Looking to improve your Facebook ad targeting? In this article, you’ll discover three ways to build highly targeted Facebook audiences based on niche interests. How to Reduce Your Facebook Ad Spend With Smart Targeting by Ronald Dod on Social Media Examiner. How Researching Audiences Improves Ad Conversions Facebook is one of the biggest drivers of consumer spending/purchases online. In fact, the power of Facebook for eCommerce is growing year over year.
Automated Email Campaigns to Maximize Revenue During the Holiday Shopping Season
Online trends change rapidly. Right now, Instagram stories are the new, stylish way to promote an eCommerce store, but they might be a thing of the past soon. Due to the ever-changing nature of trends, businesses of all sizes are always struggling to stay current, but it’s important to stay on top of critical developments in the digital world. Often overlooked, email marketing is still an extremely powerful to re-engage with potential or existing customers and entice them back to an online store.
4 ways to ensure your content is relevant and worthwhile
Marketing is all about creating what your audience finds relevant and helpful. You can craft the hippest, sleekest, cleverest campaign the world has ever seen, but if your audience ignores it, what good does it do? To create content and campaigns that resonate with the people you’re trying to reach, consider what your audience is expecting and already looking for. Try these four tips: What’s your first move if you have a question about something? Most people go straight to the internet.
Repurposing Older Content Doesn’t Have to Be Hard, Read These 7 Tips - Small Business Trends
Content creators are aware that not all of their posts are going to receive the same amount of traffic or engagement. There may only be a handful of posts that get a large number of views. Maybe those posts were targeting low competitive keywords, or the topic was trending. Whatever the reason may be, you should maximize the opportunity by repurposing that content to create more popular ones.
5 User Generated Content Secrets Revealed to Boost Your eCommerce Sales - Small Business Trends
There are so many paid advertisements saturating websites and social media platforms that they are making users “immune” to their messages. Scrolling through social media, users recognize paid ads and largely decide to ignore them. On the contrast, user-generated content (UGC) is refreshing, and it beats stock photos and cookie cutter ads users see online. Although they might also be part of an advertisement, they inherently give the impression that they are just organic content.
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